> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rubica.au/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rubica.au/households/email-broadcasts/how-recipients-are-worked-out.md).

# How Recipients Are Worked Out

Shared inboxes, greetings, missing addresses, opt-outs and unsubscribes: exactly who receives a broadcast and why.

## One email per inbox

A broadcast goes to **email addresses**, not people. If two people share an address, such as a couple with a joint inbox, that inbox receives **one** email. The first person found at that address is used. Depending on how your firm has set up greetings, a couple sharing an address can be greeted together, for example "Sam & Alex".

When you create an audience, step 2 shows how many people were left out this way.

## No email address

People with no email address on their record are skipped. They are still counted as members of the audience, but they can't be reached. The member count, the sync summary and the household's **Email Audiences** card all show this.

## Unsubscribes

Your broadcast templates must include an unsubscribe link. When someone uses it, or marks a broadcast as spam, the email service stops sending them broadcasts straight away.

Their client record isn't changed automatically. The **Email Broadcasts** tab shows a red banner when people have unsubscribed: click **Review and opt out** to tick **Email Opt Out** on their records, so nobody emails them by hand. See [Opt out people who unsubscribed](/households/email-broadcasts/results-and-recipients.md#opt-out-people-who-unsubscribed).

## Email Opt Out on the client record

Ticking **Email Opt Out** on a client's record yourself doesn't automatically remove them from an audience. It only counts if the audience's rule includes it. Open the audience: if its rule doesn't check **Email Opt Out**, you'll see a warning under **Who's in this?**. Ask your admin to add it.

## Membership is re-checked at send time

Live audiences are re-checked just before every send, so the recipients are who qualifies *at that moment*, not when the audience was created. Report audiences keep the members they were created with until you click **Update members**. Fixed audiences, including fixed spreadsheet lists, keep theirs for good.

## Bounces

If an address bounces, the email didn't arrive. Update the address on the client's record. See [Results and Recipients](/households/email-broadcasts/results-and-recipients.md#bounces).